Reporters on the Job

February 2, 2006

• Keep Studying: When staff writer Scott Baldauf visited with teachers and caretakers of a school that was torched in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he was struck by their demeanor. "They kept insisting they were afraid, but when you looked at their faces, they really appeared to be more angry. There was a certain resolve that was striking," Scott says.

Scott notes that teaching, while a respected profession, does not pay well. "It was very moving that these people, who may be earning about $50 a month, are willing to risk their lives to keep schools going. It's amazing that they are willing to make this sacrifice," Scott says, adding that classes at the school resumed Wednesday.

• Patience in the Court! If the trial of Saddam Hussein demands a steady hand from the judge, it also tests the breadth of journalists' patience. Correspondent Charles Levinson, part of the limited "pool" assigned to share reports on activity inside the court, arrived early for security procedures. "You're not even allowed to bring in a notebook with metal on it, so I had to remember to bring a legal pad," Charles notes. Once in the Green Zone in Baghdad, the press get on a guarded bus with curtained windows to go to the court. Then there's more security: "I had to walk into a machine that scans you in 3-D," Charles says. "I asked the woman there exactly what it did but she wouldn't tell me."

After that, it was a waiting game. Charles said they finally received some lunch, but adds that, "if anyone's listening, some drinks or munchies would be gratefully received." As for the trial? With most of those who had been disruptive gone, Charles says, "about the only disorder was when one defendant needed to go to the bathroom."